‘Jonathon Fairfax was astonished. This was nothing new. His first memory of being astonished dated from the age of three, when his mother had quite casually suggested that, instead of wearing a pair of comfy watertight pants, he should spend the rest of his life holding in his wee and poo. Now, seventeen years later, he was astonished because a huge, terrifying man in a smart dark-red balaclava was asking him directions.’

The man in the balaclava is on his way to a murder. From this point on, the range of things that astonish Jonathon Fairfax rapidly expands. Soon it includes not merely his own pants but conspiracy, secret government documents (lightly buttered), a strikingly cool private detective/loss-adjustor, a low-speed car chase, a fight to the death on a very small balcony, and a woundingly beautiful girl called Rachel.

‘Great – incredibly readable, very funny, and an engaging, well-crafted novel.’ 

Melissa Pimentel, Curtis Brown